conversion of streetlights to LED as well as installation of photovoltaic systems on various facilities.

3. Project must not already be committed by contract, agreement and or tender with a third party

Projects which have contractual obligations would put the City at risk of incurring additional costs as a result of not fulfilling our obligations.

4. Project must be able to proceed as a result of Provincial directive due to the current pandemic situation.

While restrictions are currently lifted, should there be future changes which preclude the City, or our vendors and or contractors, from moving a project forward, these types of projects could be placed on hold and could be considered for deferral and or cancellation until a later date, subject to all other criteria being met.

5. Putting the project on hold for up to 6 months does not result in one or more of the following situations occurring:

a. Asset deteriorates further such that it will cost more to resolve the issue later;

b. Asset may run to fail within next 6 months and as a result pose a significant risk to the City of Windsor.

There are several asset types which greatly benefit from maintenance and or rehabilitation activities that extend the life of the asset at a fraction of the cost of reconstruction or replacement. There are also a number of projects which ensure critical asset remain in an operational state. If these circumstances exist such projects would not be considered to be placed on hold.

Leveraging grant funding

The City actively pursues grants and since 2017 has been awarded $80.5M in grant funding for capital projects. Grants allow for the potential to increase the number of capital projects the City can complete. They allow for the pulling forward of timelines for future planned projects and often allow for the City funded portion of such projects to be freed up by the grants and to be redirected to other important initiatives. Grants continue to be an opportunity to help fund the City’s capital investments.

Pursuing capital project grant applications guidelines

1. Grant will allow the City to accomplish more with current City funding

In many cases the grant allows the City to complete more work for the same amount of City funding being invested. By example the Public Transit Infrastructure Fund created the opportunity to leverage City funding identified for the replacement of 8 buses to result in the replacement of 24 buses. The City’s overall investment was not reduced, however the volume of assets acquired was significantly improved and helped us address a shortfall in City funding to replace the number of buses which were needed.